


Purgatory

by Bioluminescent



Series: Eden [3]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Daemons, Alternate Universe - His Dark Materials, Child Abuse, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, traumatic flashbacks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-29
Updated: 2016-05-29
Packaged: 2018-07-10 23:34:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,741
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7012888
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bioluminescent/pseuds/Bioluminescent
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Everyone has their demons, but Clint and Sig's just seem to keep rearing their ugly heads.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Purgatory

**Author's Note:**

> Trigger warning: child abuse and traumatic flashbacks

Stumbling up against the wall next to him, Clint shakes off the hands trying to restrain him. Sig hisses unhappily when the sharp movement aggravates the scratches on her body. Lifting a hand to brush a gentle apology on her head, Clint turns back to the junior agents swarming around him like bees, a retort forming on his lips.

Movement catches his eye as one of the attackers throws something through the window of their little bolt hole in the city. 

Breaking off his angry tirade, Clint instead shouts, “Everybody get down, now!”

With just enough time to tackle the confused agent next to him, the area turns into a searing ball of fire and smoke. The blast catches them hard enough to throw their little ball of limbs and fur into the wall again and Clint bites back a groan of pain. Rock and dust rain down from the crumbling ceiling and Clint fights against the ringing pain through his head and the high pitched shrill in his ears. Coughing, he pushes himself up, one hand instinctively reaching for Sig against his chest. Patting where she had rested on his vest sends a shoot of fear through him. Wildly, Clint reaches down their bond to feel her, panic clutching at him before he feels her irritation sweep through his mind. As he sags in relief, a bolt of pain down his side leaves him hissing in pain, one hand going to reach for his side and coming away with blood.

All around Clint, the little coffee shop has been reduced to ruin, the counter embedded in the back wall, bodies lying behind what shelter they could find. No daemon is in sight, all of them hopefully beneath their humans, even though they are more resilient than their counterparts. Just as the whining of his hearing aids becomes too much on top of his already banged up head, Sig begins to make her way back towards Clint. A sigh of relief rushes through him as he sees her slowly making her way over the rocky tile. 

The agent he had tackled to the ground stirs next to him and he leans over her, her shrike daemon quivering against her throat. She opens her mouth to ask him something but with silence a heavy blanket ion his shoulders, Clint just shakes his head and points at his ears with a thumb pointed down. Luckily, she understands and nods, moving to get up from the ground. Around them the other agents are doing the same, clutching their daemons to them and helping the injured stand. 

When he tries to do the same, Clint blinks up at the smoking roof above him with agents clustered around his field of vision looking concerned. He frowns at the ones talking attempting to follow their words but not being able to focus because his head is basically killing him makes it a little difficult. Just as Clint is getting frustrated, hands reach down to help him to his feet, one hands supporting his head as he is bodily moved, his arms being thrown over the shoulders of two agents.

Quickly and efficiently, their little team makes its way out of the shop and into a shaded area of the street. The fight is still obviously going on as large blasts shake the ground and skyscrapers shatter on he horizon, but all the screaming and gunfire is lost on Clint as his ears still refuse to cooperate with his broken hearing aids. The woman he had shielded comes up to his side and shakily starts to sign to him.

_Medics are coming. Safe soon. Avengers protecting._

The shrike sitting on her shoulder flares his wings as Clint just stares at her in surprise before replying. _Okay._

_We need to move for help._  
And with that, their little group begins to move down the street. Clint can feel Sig sending him reassurance that she is following behind them before the bond breaks up into shards of pain and terror.

Dropping like a stone with a shout, Clint clearly startles the agents as he curls up into a ball, shaking. He can feel the hands through Sig's mind, he can feel their invasive touch and their slimy quality, the feeling of not being able to escape. Harsh laughter echoes in his head as Clint sees the forms touching them through Sig's eyes. They could pass as human with the looks of intrigue on their faces except for the fact they have large feathered crests on the tops of their heads flaring up in interest.

Clint can feel the sharp bites of pain as he writhes on the ground, trying to get away from their hands as they hold them down, careless of the thrashing tail and snapping jaws. Just as the pressure gets too much, as the fear, pain, and sheer feeling of _disgust_ gets too much and everything starts to turn black at the edges, those crested figures are gone in a blue flash of ash.

The weight of such intense feeling leaves Clint gasping on the ground and Sig unconsciously weaves him into her hearing. The displacement of sound leaves Clint reeling as metal nearby shifts and unlatches with a hiss, the sound of feathers shifting through the air before a soft voice speaks.

“Sig, would it be alright if I brought you to Clint?” Forcing one eye open reveals Lachesis staring at them with Tony swearing in the background, a dark thundercloud approaching from the other side of the city. A slight dip of the head is taken as consent and Lachesis gently lifts Sig in her talons, heaving them both into the air. Clint twitches at the feel of constriction around his chest until Sig is placed on his form.

Lachesis rejoins with Tony as Clint chokes out a sob of relief, faces flashing against his eyes, Sig shifting around his body in a hug as she flicks his face with her tongue.

_The feeling of happiness and pride shatters into fear and screams as a bottle crashes into the wall above his head. Harsh grunting overlaps the shouting as rough hands pull at his body. Stilling because fighting back will only make it worse, he twists around in the two sets of hands, tears spilling down his face as he meets the eyes of his brother hovering over the limp form of their mother._

_A sob wrenches through his small body and it is answered with a blow to the face and the ground meeting his skull. The room becomes hazy as he looks at his brother again over the mane of the male baboon. Barney flinches as something is shouted at him, holding one hand up to the new bruise on his face, his daemon spreading her wings to appear larger behind him. All he can think about is how he looks like an angel like that._

Hands slapping his face bring Clint to open his eyes with a harsh yell, wrenching himself away from the group around him. By the time he has taken up a defensive crouch, a knife in each hand and Sig swaying threateningly on his shoulders, Natasha and the rest have backed up with their hands open towards him. Moving hands catch his eyes as his logic catches up with the rest of him.

_No threat. No threat. You are safe._

Clint sobs at that and crumples. Warm arms go around him, fur gently brushing against Sig's scales. No fur touches her again when they both twitch violently in Nat's grip. Clint blinks and they are being bundled up in a blanket in a Shield quinjet. Blearily registering the fact the Bruce is sitting across from him with Amani in his lap and Thor next to him, Clint glances around warily with his hands cradling Sig's head against his chest.

Natasha is beside him tending to the wounds she can reach without touching Sig, Radimir watching them from the seat beside her. Tony and Steve are huddled at the front of the jet near the cockpit, their daemons tending to dust and blood on each other, comfort being passed between the two through a beak softening matted fur and a tongue gently smoothing ruffled feathers. 

_Rough hands hold him down as he screams out in pain, the broken bones of his arm grinding together enough to cause the ringing in his head to dissipate. The sounds that reach him make the entire nightmare worse. Drunken yelling near his head make him flinch at the volume._

_“Maybe this'll teach you a lesson then!”_

Natasha calls over the others when Clint starts shaking violently. “Call Phil.”

Tony raises his eyebrows but at a glare from Natasha raises his hands. “I never said I wasn't going to.” Steve rolls his eyes, but the lines of concern on his face get deeper as he looks at Clint. “Jarvis, did you get that?”

“I certainly did, sir.”

“Clint.” Not startling at the soft voice, Clint looks over at Bruce where he sits, pale and sweaty. “Can you hear us?”

Ton begins to swear at that and begins to rifle around the quinjet, Clint's sharp eyes catching on to the barely there tremble of the searching fingers, the world going soft as he watches. A hand running through his hair has him shaking his head and looking back at Bruce before nodding slightly.

Bruce pulls out a small smile for him as Amani lifts her head to stare at them. “You have scorch marks on your hearing aids.”

Scowling, Clint goes to take them out before a hand stops him and he stares at Natasha. She just raises an eyebrow at him.

“Would you rather realize yourself that you can't take them out or can I take them out, Yastreb?”

Clint blinks at her. She shakes her head and takes them out herself, handing them over to Tony when Lachesis snaps her beak at them. Nothing more is said between anyone as Jarvis lowers the volume of the ringing phone, Clint focusing on the way scales brush his skin when Sig breathes. Silence settles over the group as they all try to find their own equilibrium again. Fingers scratch at the nape of his neck and Clint begins to relax as static scratches through the air.

“What do you want Stark, I'm a bit busy dealing with your-”

“It's Clint.”

Everyone stills as Phil goes silent. “What.”

“We're bringing him back to the tower, Shield won't know how to deal with him.”

They hear a deep breath being taken and Clint ducks his head against his chest. “What happened.” Tony pinches the bridge of his nose and Lachesis churrs uncomfortably against his neck. 

Shooting them a look, Steve speaks with one hand resting on Sappheire's head. “A few of those beings uh, they uh, they-” Steve's ears turn red as Natasha interrupts.

“They touched Sigrun.”

The silence over the phone grows cold just as it thaws in concern. “Get him there Stark, I'll meet you.” Tony immediately starts bouncing around the quinjet and Clint feels the moment of nausea as they leave the ground. “Clint? Are you alright?”

Crunching into a tighter ball, Clint ducks out from under Natasha's hand. “No.” His voice comes out in a whisper.

He closes his eyes against the memories fighting in his head, letting Phil's voice wash over him and keep them at bay. He hears Bruce saying something before Phil's voice leaves him to struggle and drown at the wash of fear.

_“No! Please don't!” His high pitched screams tear at his already raw throat, hands holding down his flailing young body easily. The baboon roughly tears away his daemon from his chest, her tail whipping around in the air as she tries to twist her head enough to bite the hands holding her. Another hit to the head has them both slumping in the gate of their hell._

_His father turns to his daemon. “Go.”_

_Barking, the baboon turns on his feet and bolts out the door. A few paces from the front door, Clint begins to scream._

Familiar hands run over the sides of his face, drawing him back to surface in the crashing waves in his head. A soft tail wraps around his wrist and Clint jerks, warmth rushing through is body, but not completely chasing away the feeling of someone touching his soul. Warm blue eyes meet his and he relaxes, tipping forward so that he is cradled in Phil's arms. 

They tighten around him with a murmured, “Let's go.” All Clint does is lace his arms around Phil's shoulders and tuck his face into his neck. Phil sighs before wedging an arm under Clint's knees, bracing himself against the seats before standing up. It pulls at the stitches Natasha had put into his side, but at this moment all Clint and Sig care about is the warmth seeping into them from Phil's body, Bell's tongue swiping away blood and dirt from his forehead chasing that warmth.

Everything blinks by in a blur, washing the dirt off in the shower, Phil dressing him in comfortable clothes, Sig coiling herself around Phil's arm as he watches Clint struggle to his feet. A warm arm around his waist prevents him from falling flat on his face and Clint steers them towards the elevator on their floor. 

“Clint...” Phil sighs at his determination and Bell follows them, snickering.

By the time they get up to the common floor, everyone has gathered at the couches. Clint moves towards the closest love seat and flops down onto it as much as he can without hissing in pain. Sig climbs off Phil's arm and coils herself onto his lap. Settling himself next to them, Phil drags Clint to lean against his chest with Bell on his lap in a mirror image of himself and Sig.

The team watches as Phil brushes a soft kiss to Clint's head and murmurs something softly to him as Clint shifts uncomfortably in his skin. The room is silent and Clint stares at the floor in front of him before Natasha rises gracefully from her spot next to Steve to gather up her blanket and settle herself on the floor in front of them. Radimir snags a corner of the blanket and drapes himself in it and curls up in the crook of Clint's curled legs. Steve and Tony promptly make themselves more comfortable with the couch all to themselves. Leaning against Steve's chest and holding muscled arms against his stomach, Tony meets Clint's eyes for a moment as Sig shifts on his lap.

Understanding runs between them and Clint closes his eyes and sighs. Everyone is silent as he gathers his thoughts.

“My father forcibly separated me and Sig when I was eight.”

The entire room stills at his words.

_Aching and raw, Clint curls around Sig, her coils cold for the first time in their lives. She shifts between all the venomous snakes she knows and even a few new ones in a constant blur of changing color. She hisses to herself all the while, trying to soften the blow they had both just been dealt. Slowly the gap in their chests filled as the space between them never grew to the length it had been just a short time ago. A soft nose pokes over the edge of their bed and Clint bites back a giggle. A soft voice fills his ears and chases away the worry, filling them both with love as his mother sits on the edge of their bed and strokes his hair until he falls asleep._

When Clint opens his eyes the next morning, its to warmth surrounding him and sunlight filling the room. Bruce and Thor were leaning against each other on the other love seat, their snores filling the room as both their daemons had their heads shoved under pillows or wings. Steve and Tony were spooning on the couch, Sappheire and Lachesis a weird ying and yang behind their legs. Natasha lay against the front of their love seat as Radimir prowled the sides of the brightening room. And Phil gently stroked his hair as Clint woke up with Bell and Sig twined together on his lap, fingers playing with soft fur.

Surrounded by warmth and family, Clint slipped back into sleep.

_His parents and their daemons died that night in a drunken car crash._

**Author's Note:**

> For clarification:
> 
> Clint- Sigrun, King Cobra  
> Phil- Belladonna, Clouded Leopard  
> Natasha- Radimir, White Tailed Mongoose  
> Steve- Sappheire, Rhodesian Ridgeback  
> Tony- Lachesis, Black Billed Magpie  
> Bruce- Amani, Honey Badger  
> Thor- Mjolnir, Harpy Eagle  
> Barney- Kamryn, Shoebill Stork  
> Father- Chacma Baboon  
> Mother- Rough Collie


End file.
